SCHENECTADY — Five of the seven City Council members called for changes to the Erie Boulevard development plan Monday, citing the vehement protests of nearly every business owner on the street.

Councilwoman Barbara Blanchard argued that the council had to take into consideration the business owners’ concerns.

“They stayed with us when we were down and out,” she said. “Now that we’re making a rebound, we have to listen to them.”

Councilman Gary McCarthy criticized the mayor’s handling of the project, saying it has become so controversial that the city has lost any good will it might have generated for rejuvenating the streetscape.

“We’ve lost that opportunity for an exciting, happy project,” he said, adding that changes must be made before the council will support it. The council has the final say on whether the $14 million project goes forward.

Council members must make a decision soon. Work is scheduled to start in 2009 and finish in 2011.

They spoke after eight business owners railed about the project at Monday’s City Council meeting, arguing that it would jeopardize their livelihoods.

“We’ve got everything at stake here,” said Alan Holet, owner of Precision Graphics. “I’ve been here 23 years. I’d like to know if I’m going to have a job. Am I going to be able to get people in and out of my office?”

Another business owner, Sabrina Heilmann of AFLAC, pleaded, “Just talk with us. These businesses have withstood the GE downsizing … and now it seems upsetting that out government is putting in a plan to put these business out.”

The project would place landscaped medians in the center of the boulevard, from State Street to I-890, and a roundabout near the adult bookstore. Business owners believe those features would make it nearly impossible for customers to get to a store if they were driving on the opposite side of the street.

The roundabout would also force two businesses to relocate; to make space, the city would use eminent domain to demolish the adult bookstore and the next-door gun shop. Bookstore owner Rocco Palmer organized his fellow business owners to fight the roundabout when he learned of the plan.

Councilman Joseph Allen is solidly on Palmer’s side.

“We don’t have that many businesses in the city of Schenectady as it is. We don’t need to run anybody away,” Allen said. “I would have some real concerns about running away one business.”

He said he would only support a project designed to help businesses thrive and expand, and categorically refused to support a project aimed solely at beautification.

Councilman Thomas Della Sala said he also wants the business owners to be helped, not harmed, by the plan.

“It is my sincere hope over the next few months as the plan evolves, your concerns are met,” he told the assembled business owners.

Councilman Mark Blanchfield assured them that there is still time to change the plan, although he made no promises to make the changes they want.

“I think it’s time to make sure we have all the input we need to make the right decision,” he said.

Council President Margaret King did not address the crowd, and Councilwoman Denise Brucker was absent.

Mayor Brian U. Stratton said the business owners will be pleased by the next version of the plan, which will be presented in mid-September. The only other public presentation was last November, when the project was revealed.

“They haven’t had the benefit of seeing the plan,” Stratton said. “The plan hanging downstairs is not the current plan. I don’t know if they will all by satisfied, but they will have more information. It will be impossible to make every individual 100 percent happy, but we can make 95 percent of them happy.”

He said the new version offers a safe way to get tractor-trailer deliveries to the stores and said a U-turn right in front of the I-890 exit ramp would solve their concerns about customers being forced to drive onto I-890 and merge across five lanes of traffic to get to some stores.

However, business owners are leery of the U-turn, noting that cars would have to squeeze through traffic heading off the interstate at high speeds. The U-turn also does not address the business owners’ complaints about the medians blocking easy access to the opposite side of the street. They also say they need far more parking than they currently have. The proposed project cuts parking slightly.